How a road safety guru spends his Sundays
Peter Goldwasser is the executive director of Together for safer roads, a non-governmental organization that works with companies and municipal authorities to improve truck safety and prevent accidents. The group’s ultimate goal is to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries.
On Sundays, Mr. Goldwasser, 45, a triathlete, often literally runs through Brooklyn. He lives in a Park Slope brownstone with his wife, Marie Clare Katigbak, 48, a beauty and wellness consultant; their daughter Tessa, 14; and the family’s flock of sheep, Ollie.
EARLY INSPIRATION I get up early, especially on weekends, like 5 a.m., because I like to go for long runs. I have a route that I do every Sunday which is via Vanderbilt to Prospect Heights, Vinegar Hill and then through the park to the old Fairway. I find it surreal to be in this city of millions of people and there is no one, no one around at that hour. Running always makes me feel better. Then I come up with some of my best ideas. I walk almost exactly 10 or 12 miles.
TRIBES When I get home at 7:30, my wife takes the dog for a walk, and then Tessa wakes up and I take food orders. That usually means getting on a Citi Bike. Breakfast is from Shelskys in Carroll Gardens. They make the most ridiculously good bagels and lox – my daughter gets the Member of the Tribe, the classic lox, cream cheese and capers. I understand that too. My wife gets the Great Gatsby, a great pastrami flavored lox.
I bring the bagels home, we hang out and then I get the weekend papers. I always get them from the same guy, at Seventh Avenue and Union. And I always get those three copies down. I wasn’t sure if I should say that. I don’t know if this makes me sound neurotic, but it’s true. I think it’s so much more satisfying to read the print version of The Wall Street Journal and The Times. My daughter jokes that I print on the Internet.
WRONG OWNER Before we know it it’s lunch time. For my wife and my daughter, food is definitely their love language. Usually I want to walk across the Manhattan Bridge to Chinatown, but we negotiate and sometimes take the Q train, which is fun because you get to see the city. I’ll bring the paper. We really like dim sum, so we usually do dim sum Jing Fong on Center Street. It’s loud and chaotic in there and just plain fun. We read the newspaper and eat. The girls do all the orders: pork buns, shrimp, rice noodles, sesame balls. They have more specific choices than I do. I eat pretty much everything. I don’t eat a ton. They eat more than me. That’s how it’s always been. Marie Clare and I have been married for 15 years. We met on the subway.
FASHION BOP After we eat, we walk around Chinatown and the East Village, looking at nothing in particular, and stumbling upon places. Tessa is really into thrifting, so sometimes we go to thrift stores in Manhattan and Brooklyn. There’s a barrel in Park Slope. Tessa has great style. She just bought a pair of Doc Martens, and it’s weird that they’re back in fashion. She will probably be very embarrassed that I say this.
TO THE STACKS Early in the afternoon we have to go back to take Ollie out. Then Tessa and I walk to the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. We put books on hold during the week and go to pick them up, mainly for her. I’m a big fan of the public library system. I have been involved with the Brooklyn Public Library for a long time when it comes to supporting it. When I was much younger, I founded the Brooklyn Eagles, their junior board. I have stayed involved. I think they are a crucial civic institution.
SAFETY FIRST When we walk as a family or when I run or cycle, I think a lot about road safety. I’m mainly thinking about trucks and how big they are and the dead zones. A large part of our organization’s work consists of figuring out: how do you make trucks and fleets safer? You think about how small you are and how they can’t see you. It makes it clear why you are doing the work, how important it is.
MILES TO GO I like to catch up with friends when we get back from the library. I take a long walk with one of two friends, usually an hour and a half or two hours. We stop at Salter House on the Atlanticlaan. They have really good coffee and treats. When I get home, I like to do some work, map out what the week ahead will look like, figure out the programs and projects I’m going to focus on. Before you know it, it’s time to go grocery shopping. Marie Clare and I walk to Whole Foods, or if we’re lazy, we go to Union Market, around the corner.
COCKTAILS, MUSICAL CLASSES I can’t cook, but I make excellent cocktails. Marie Clare’s favorite is a sidecar. I make drinks while she cooks, and she has a cocktail during dinner. I like listening to music, but we can never agree on the Spotify playlist. She thinks I make terrible choices – if it were up to me it would be bluegrass and Broadway songs, but we usually go with MC’s choice, which is yacht rock. Tessa has had enough of us by then. She’s ready to be alone.
SISTER Shout-OUT Later I call my sister in Worcester, Massachusetts. I’m actually just calling to annoy her. Normally we don’t say anything to each other; we just yell at each other like it’s high school. We talk a lot. It’s bedtime around 10 o’clock. We go to bed earlier than Tessa, which she finds embarrassing. I fall asleep immediately.